Twice a year with the culmination of the transfer window comes a reminder that big money can make things happen in football. Briefly, though it appeared that things might change, which they did, excluding the anomaly of the Premier League which consolidated its monopoly further.
Remember 2020, when the world witnessed an unprecedented pandemic and the world anticipated a monumental transformation in football? A world where football is less dominated by materialism. Even the financial experts anticipated a less-inflated football business, with investments in transfer markets expected to reduce considerably for a few windows at least until the finances of the global football world had stabilized. Without fans in stadiums, it seemed like this whole house of cards would come toppling down. Idealists hoped this might provide an opportunity to transform the hyper-inflated transfer business. Many hoped that the Pandemic would prove to be a silver lining to reform football. Maybe a new, better footballing world was in the making. Conversely, the world stopping in its track barely made a dent in football. Football survived and thrived like it always did, during the world wars, and all the historic economic recessions and jolts.
Two years of Pandemic and money in football is talking louder than ever, dictating terms more noticeably than ever. The so-called big five leagues of Europe combined invested over 4.5 Billion Euros in the summer transfer window of 2022. Out of which the Premier League was alone responsible for record-breaking spending of 2.24 Billion, precisely 50% of the overall. The global economic meltdown had the opposite of the adverse effect on the upper echelons of the football pyramid, paving the way for the premier league to consolidate its hegemony. Massive transfers might have been considered unprecedented while the onset of the pandemic with the recession looming. However, whenever the economy tanks, not everyone suffers. The superrich often elevates their status in an opportunity of financial distress, the premier league similarly is Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos of global football.
Over the last 10 seasons, only 16 teams have won championships in Europe’s big 5 leagues, predictably 14 of those teams are on the list of the top 20 wealthiest clubs in Europe. There is even a startling inequality amongst the elite themselves. For all practical purposes, the premier league is an inadvertent version of the proposed infamous Super League. While at the Ultra-elite level the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid can compete with Liverpool, two Manchester Club, and Chelsea, the paramount disparity is exposed once you compare the revenue of a mid-table club in the premier league with any other mid-table team in the other 4 leagues. The premier league blows the rest league out of the water by a county mile. Apart from for few extremely noticeable exceptions, no one packs the financial punch of the prem, and even other elite European clubs are lingering behind.
When launched in 1992, the Premier League was the first European league to establish bridges with potential fans globally by offering concessions on TV rights from Asia to Africa to the USA. By the late ’90s, the premier league has consolidated its status as fans were addicted to the drama and excitement of the league, and the Prem was equally hooked with addictive broadcasting rebates. By the late 90’s more than 50% of the league’s revenue was directly an outcome of the broadcasting income. Revenue in the top 5 leagued has climbed consistently in the last decade, however, the rest of 4 league’s revenue growth dwarfs significantly when compared to the Premier League. The commanding authority of the League in Europe made it an even more appealing investment for the ultra-rich, who have in turn redesigned the league in recent years. English football has consistently been the catalyst of global trends reaching a milestone that barely a few can compete with.
Financial experts at KPMG had forecasted a £10 Billion hit to the transfer market as an outcome of the financial recession during covid. At the upper echelons, football has demonstrated its ability to be recession-resistant. The extravagant broadcasting deal of the Premier League, in this case, provided itself with insurance coverage and immunity, whereas for the other 4 major leagues the TV deal is significantly modest, culminating and contributing to meltdowns and collapses like the case of Barcelona. For English Football, the Tv rights, state bailouts, and compensation coincided with the struggles of rest leagues in Europe and there was always going to be one winner. For the Premier League the bubble never bursts even though other industries struggled and suffered, football is uniquely insulated, while factories stuttered and business stagnated, football barely slowed down. In the adversities, football offers relief and escape for the struggling masses coincidently benefiting pockets of the premier league’s rich owners.
While Fans conveyed their disregard and disapproval for the emergence of the Super League, in reality, the elite clubs led by the premier league essentially already have one, yes, that includes Spurs too. As a result, a section of stakeholders in German football have expressed the desire to reform the 50+1 to commercially expand the league and keep it competitive with the premier league. PSG, as a club funded by sovereign funding, the two Spanish giants might be fine, the rest though would be challenging for remaining scrap
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